an expensive family obligation

I made travel reservations for our trip to Jacksonville in late January/early February for our nephew’s bar mitzvah. Airfare, car rental & hotel will cost $1161. I would not for a minute consider not going; Benjamin’s parent’s divorce has been hard on him, and he needs the support, as do his siblings and my brother (who volunteered me to chant twenty lines of Torah–he emailed me a wav file of the trope, but I have yet to start practicing). We’re not looking forward to it (see my impressions from our last trip to Jacksonville) but hope we’ll enjoy some of it.